Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Tonight we had a wonderful time sharing with a few friends. It makes us more excited about going back each time we share. Fraser and Leona (my sister) opened their home for us. We had a great time and are excited about the interest in the work the Lord will have us do once we return!
(a few pictures of the evening and one of Leona while we were baking a few evenings ago!)

Monday, April 9, 2012

Saturday morning we left Saskatoon for Hudson Bay, stopping at Melfort, it was dry - not raining - and no snow!

As we got closer to Melfort we saw a little snow!

Then there was more.

At Melfort it looked like this - about 6 inches/15cm.

Ken & Charlene took us out for lunch with Colleen! Sorry didn't get a picture of that, but we had a great visit!!!

We then left Melfort for Hudson Bay! (I know, the crazy missionaries are more than crazy!!!) There was a lot more snow, about 1 foot/30cm of snow at the deepest and we were 'bottoming out' as we drove the 'one lane' highway through the snow.

Needless to say because you can see, the snow was deep and 'others' got stuck! Good thing we had a tow rope with us!

I love this picture. Beautiful snow stuck on the trees! I wonder how that would be as a jigsaw puzzle!!!

It cleared off a bit once we got closer to Hudson Bay, SK!

Hudson Bay's "moose"!

We were privileged to stay at Rod & Diane Salmond's. Had a great visit with them and family! Thanks Rod & Diane!!! (Never got any pictures though!)

The morning service at Pineridge Fellowship Chapel in Hudson Bay, SK.

The roads were much cleaner on the way back. It was still snowing a bit when we left Hudson Bay. And by the time we got to Wakaw our tires were very much caked with ice!

After we cleaned off the ice I got this picture of what we left behind!

The roads were good the rest of the way and we got home to Saskatoon - even got up to +2C from about -6C at Hudson Bay.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Rwandan Genocide***From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia*** (below is taken from the Wikipedia)The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days (from the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira on April 6) through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate. Estimates of the death toll have ranged between 500,000 and 1,000,000, or as much as 20% of the country's total population. It was the culmination of longstanding ethnic competition and tensions between the minority Tutsi, who had controlled power for centuries, and the majority Hutu peoples, who had come to power in the rebellion of 1959–62 and overthrown the Tutsi monarchy.

In 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel group composed mostly of Tutsi refugees, invaded northern Rwanda from Uganda in an attempt to defeat the Hutu-led government. They began the Rwandan Civil War, fought between the Hutu regime, with support from Francophone Africa and France, and the RPF, with support from Uganda. This exacerbated ethnic tensions in the country. In response, many Hutu gravitated toward the Hutu Power ideology, with the prompting of state-controlled and independent Rwandan media.

As an ideology, Hutu Power asserted that the Tutsi intended to enslave the Hutu and must be resisted at all costs. Continuing ethnic strife resulted in the rebels' displacing large numbers of Hutu in the north, plus periodic localized Hutu killings of Tutsi in the south. International pressure on the Hutu-led government of Juvénal Habyarimana resulted in a cease-fire in 1993. He began to implement the Arusha Accords.

The assassination of Habyarimana in April 1994 set off a violent reaction, during which Hutu groups conducted mass killings of Tutsis (and also pro-peace Hutus, who were portrayed as "traitors" and "collaborationists"). This genocide had been planned by members of the Hutu power group known as the Akazu, many of whom occupied positions at top levels of the national government; the genocide was supported and coordinated by the national government as well as by local military and civil officials and mass media. Alongside the military, primary responsibility for the killings themselves rests with two Hutu militias that had been organized for this purpose by political parties: the Interahamwe and the Impuzamugambi, although once the genocide was underway a great number of Hutu civilians took part in the murders.

It was the end of the peace agreement. The Tutsi RPF restarted their offensive, defeating the army and seizing control of the country.

Mark 15:22-39

New International Version (NIV)

22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. 25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. [28][a]29
Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and
saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in
three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!” 31
In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked
him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save
himself! 32 Let this
Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may
see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).[b]35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” 36
Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and
offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah
comes to take him down,” he said. 37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. 38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,[c] he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Today we were suppose to have supper with friends. We had talked with them on March 21st, and planned on getting together with them today. I didn't schedule it into my iPod and so therefore we forgot to be at the right place at the right time. They phoned and were gracious to forgive us!

Today we had the most amazing thing happen! Less than a day ago Peter put our GPS system for sale on "KIJIJI Saskatoon", and now it is in the hands of new owners. That's amazing. What's even more amazing is that when the buyer found out we were going over to Rwanda he gave us more than what we were asking for the GPS! That's pretty amazing! BUT on top of that when we asked what his name was so that we could thank him, he said "Dylan" we asked "Dylan who?" (wanting to know more) and he said, "Dylan Gruchy". I was so shocked!!! Here standing before us was my first-cousin-once-removed!!!! There proceeded: "You have to meet my wife." "Why don't the two of you come in and visit for a while?" "Why don't you stay for supper?" (from my sister when she got home). And it just carried on from there. We had the most wonderful time getting to know more about them and hear about their past and future!!! Wow, God is so Good!!!!

Thanks for the visit Dylan & Reanne!

God is in control of everything! Sometimes we wonder why we do this, or don't want to do that, or forget this, or that, but He knows that everything is for our good!

We ARE going to have to make up for the supper we missed with our "Friends" though. I'm sure it will be fun!!!